SET And MYND Domain Containing Protein 4 (SMYD4)

The expression of Smyd4 was markedly decreased in tumor cells. Re-expression of Smyd4 resulted in growth suppression of tumor cells and inhibition of tumor formation in nude mice. Furthermore, the RNA interference–mediated suppression of Smyd4 expression in human MCF10A mammary epithelial cells caused their growth in soft agar.Re-expression of Smyd4 significantly reduced the expression of Pdgfr-α in tumor cells. In human breast cancers, reverse transcription-PCR results revealed that Smyd4 expression was totally silenced in 2 of 10 specimens. These findings indicate that Smyd4, as a potential tumor suppressor, plays a critical role in breast carcinogenesis at least partly through inhibiting the expression of Pdgfr-α, and could be a novel target for improving treatment of breast cancer.